The Gospel means “Good news” and we believe it is a good news that changes all of life. The good news only makes sense when you understand this whole story of creation. The Scriptures tell us that in the beginning God created everything and it all existed in perfect harmony with God and man (Genesis 1-2). But this harmony was shattered when man essentially decided to worship himself over God (Genesis 3, Romans 1:24-25). When man made this tragic decision all of creation was broken. Our relationship with our Creator, our relationship with each other and our relationship with all of creation was marred, but God promised to send a rescuer. That rescuer was God’s Son, Jesus Christ, Who came humbly as a baby into this world, lived the life we could never live and died the death that we should have died. He paid the debt that was owed to holy God on our behalf, and now, through Jesus, all who believe through faith and repentance can have a redeemed relationship with God and be new creations in this broken world. Not only do we have this hope now, but we rest in the promise of His return when Jesus will finish the restorative work of this earth and make all things new (Revelation 21:1-5). This message is certainly good news to all who believe.

The Scriptures

We believe the Scriptures are God’s special revelation of Himself to man in the form of written words. The Scriptures are not a collection of stories about morality but rather a grand narrative of God’s story of creation, fall redemption, and restoration. The Bible is to be read as a narrative and not as some sort of reference book for morality and should always be read through a Christological lens, understanding that all of Scripture points to the cross. We believe the Scriptures are divinely inspired and without error and therefore is sufficient for every aspect of our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Triune Godhead

We believe that God is one God that exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Triune Godhead is distinct in personhood and are not simply different expressions of God manifest at different times and places. The Triune Godhead exists eternally in perfect, self-sufficient unity, but fulfill complementing roles.

The Person and work of Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ is the second person of the triune Godhead who existed eternally with God the Father and the God the Spirit. In the fullness of time, Jesus entered this earth, born of a virgin, and existed simultaneously as fully man and fully God in hypostatic union. He lived a perfect life without sin leading to His substitutionary work on the cross.

Creation

We believe God created all things as recorded in the book of Genesis. He spoke all things into existence out of nothing (ex nihilo). Creation came through the spoken word of God as evidenced in the statement “And God said,” prior to each creative act, and this creation was formed in Trinitarian unity. God created the world and it was “good,” (Gensis 1:31) and holy before the sinful rebellion of man broke it in what we call the Fall. Creation was for the sole purpose of bringing glory and praise to God.

The nature of man

We believe mankind is the climax of God’s creation because we were intimately and personally formed, and unlike the rest of creation, we were made in God’s image. As image bearers we are not God, but we do have the unique ability and responsibility to reflect the glory of God in our lives, which now can only be fully accomplished when we are redeemed by the person and work of Jesus Christ. When man sinned it broke all of creation and significantly marred our nature and ability to choose in regard to good and evil. Adam’s sin has placed us in a state of total depravity.

Salvation

We believe that man is rescued from this state of sin and separation from God only through the good news of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death and victorious resurrection. Upon faith and repentance, which was birthed in our dead hearts as a gift of grace from God, we are justified and declared righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) We are thus adopted into the family of God and are being sanctified by this same Gospel that declared us righteous. We look forward to day when God completes His renewal of all of Creation and operate as agents of reconciliation and renewal in our daily lives.

Spiritual Gifts

We believe spiritual gifts are gifts given by the Holy Spirit to all believers upon faith in Christ. There are various gifts listed in Scripture in many different places (1 Cor. 12:8-10, 28-30; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11). These gifts are given to be used to serve both our brothers and sisters in Christ and the world God would have us reach. No spiritual gift is greater than the other and are all important in the body of Christ, His church.

The Church

We believe the church is the community of believers in Jesus Christ for all time. The church is both universal and local. It is universal as it includes all believers around the world for all times. But the church is also local as the very word church in the New Testament is “ekklesia” which means “gathering, meeting, or assembly,” and so we see the church embodied in these local gathering of believers known as the local church.

The local church is made up of regenerate believers who have a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith and repentance. The local church functions in unity under the biblical authority of qualified elders (Acts 14:23, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9), gathers regularly for worship and the preaching of God’s word (Acts 2:42-47), and partakes in the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion.

The Sacraments

We believe there are two sacraments of the church, baptism and communion. Baptism is a sacrament because it is an outward and visible expression of an inward and invisible reality. Baptism is a proclamation of the gospel through the life of one who has professed faith in Jesus Christ. We believe the biblical expression of baptism happens after an expression of faith in Christ and through the mode of immersion.

Communion or the Lord’s Supper is the second of the two sacraments of the church. Communion serves as yet another proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Communion is for believers and is a proclamation of their continued covenant relationship with God the Father through the broken body and shed blood of the Son. It also serves as a reminder to the believer of the great sacrifice that was made on our behalf. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” (Luke 22:19) clearly exhorting the church to often reflect on the His sacrificial death.